TTV Dhinakaran may file complaint with EC following election defeat

Dhinakaran, a former leader of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), launched his party on 15 March last year.

SNS Web | New Delhi | May 26, 2019 11:55 am

(File Photo: IANS)

Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) chief TTV Dhinakaran said on Sunday that he will file a complaint with the Election Commission after his party drew a blank in the Lok Sabha elections 2019.

Dhinakaran, a former leader of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), launched his party on 15 March last year.

The AMMK contested in the Lok Sabha elections and by-elections to 22 Assembly seats in Tamil Nadu but could garner only 5 per cent of the votes.

Speaking to reporters, Dhinakaran expressed surprise saying that supporters voted for his party but there were instances where no votes were registered.

“It’s very strange that many of our supporters had voted for our party but their votes have not been registered, there are instances where no votes were cast for our party. How can it be possible? EC has to clarify,” he said.

Dhinakaran added that he cannot go to court over the issue because has no evidence.

“I can’t go to court as I have no evidence. We are collecting the details of booths and we will file a complaint at the Election Commission later,” he said.

Billed as the spoiler for the ruling AIADMK, Dhinakaran’s party could hardly do any damage in the elections that saw the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) win 23 of the 38 seats where elections were held in the state.

According to The Hindu, even star leaders of AMMK – Thangatamilsevan, Palaniappan and Vetrivel — were not able to garner significant votes or even push the AIADMK front to the third place where they contested.

Dhinakaran, the nephew of VK Sasikala, launched his party with a show of power in Madurai district at a time when there was a surge in new parties cropping up in Tamil Nadu.

The name of the party pointed at the 54-year-old leader’s claim that he was the rightful heir to J Jayalalithaa’s legacy in Tamil Nadu.

His party flag has the image of Jayalalithaa on three bands of black white and red – the colours of most Dravidian parties.